The new workplace safety ads are revolting. That's why they work

Mark Sutcliffe

The Ottawa Citizen

Saturday, December 01, 2007

They are disgusting. They make you squint and squirm and turn away from the screen. The graphic pictures are more horrifying and disturbing than any violent program on television, let alone any of the other commercials. The commercials for the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board of Ontario (WSIB) are sensational and melodramatic, overacted and borderline campy.

The first time one of them appeared on my TV, I thought it was among the worst commercials I'd ever seen. But now I think they are probably the most effective ads on Canada television today.

The WSIB ads are about as subtle as a taser blast. They confront viewers with explicit images of disfigured workers who have suffered workplace accidents. A sous-chef slips, pours a vat of hot oil all over her face and screams in agony. A woman in a retail store tumbles off a ladder straight into a glass table, then with blood oozing from her head explains how both she and her employer could have prevented the fall. After being impaled on steel beams, a factory worker matter-of-factly explains to his co-worker all the steps that could have prevented the cascade of materials that crushed him.

The tone is maudlin. The acting and dialogue are so over-the-top that it almost seems like a skit from a comedy program. But the message is serious. "There really are no accidents," the screen reads as the ads close.

The WSIB campaign also features print and outdoor ads with similar themes. And there's a series of radio ads, one of them featuring screeching tires, screams and a theatrical voiceover about how a speeding delivery driver could have prevented the funerals of a mother and child.

Many people find the ads unsettling, distressing and even offensive. Last week, WSIB chairman Stephen Mahoney revealed that 60 per cent of e-mails received since the latest campaign was launched have been critical. Transit authorities in Mississauga, Windsor and Hamilton have rejected WSIB bus-shelter ads because they are too graphic.

But even if you're one of the people who finds the ads revolting, you can't argue that they don't work. For one thing, unless you haven't watched TV since the last Winter Olympics, you've probably seen the ads and remember them very clearly. Try naming one other campaign that stands out as much in your mind.

Of course, being memorable isn't the only test of a good ad. You might also remember the incredibly cheesy ads for the Cheetah sports drink featuring Ben Johnson. But if you're like me, they didn't make you one bit more likely to buy the product.

And being sensational or provoking an emotional reaction is not a sure route to effectiveness.

A transparent attempt at shocking the audience to get its attention can backfire on a marketer.

But the WSIB ads are different. What's effective about them is that their sensationalism is right on point. They aren't being provocative so you'll remember a product. They're grisly and disturbing because the issue itself is grisly and disturbing.

There are some things that are worthy of your attention, even if you have to be hit over the head to get it, the WSIB is saying. Remember the ads with the man breaking and frying an egg: "This is your brain. This is your brain on drugs"? Workplace safety is just as important.

The WSIB ads have the same effect as the crashed car purposely left on the side of the road or the death toll posted at an intersection to discourage dangerous driving. They may be shocking. But there's no chance you'll miss the point.

Some public awareness campaigns are guilty of being too soft, too careful. With their brave campaign, the WSIB is grabbing the audience by the lapels and shaking them out of their complacent slumber. If you want to change behaviour, sometimes you have to shock people into action.

Workplace safety isn't something a lot of people talked about or thought about before the campaign began. But according to the WSIB, five people die every day in Canada as a result of workplace injuries or occupational diseases. Thanks to the campaign, the issue is much more in the public consciousness.

If you're offended by a little blood and gore, then I would ask: How else would you have the WSIB broach the topic? Workplace accidents aren't pretty, so why should a campaign about them be anything but unpleasant? In matters of life and death, subtlety isn't a virtue.

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